Guido writes novels and short stories; he's detached, diffident. When his wife and teenage daughter move, he stays behind to write. He takes swimming lessons; his teacher is Giulia, somber, perhaps melancholy. They talk from time to time; he invites her out, and she says she doesn't go out at night. We see Guido's stories dramatized - unhappy characters in search of something. Guido helps his daughter navigate a first crush; he disengages from a campaign to win a literary prize. His wife challenges him to reconnect with her. Instead, he focuses on Giulia: drawing her out, learning of her past. Then he intervenes. Can a novelist write reality?